NikT: Mobile Odin was built by one of the most trusted Android developers, Chainfire. It's essentially an on-device version of the Odin desktop tool, so you don't need a PC/USB cable at all - don't even need to boot into recovery. Just download the tar file direct to the device. Has a built-in root injection tool as well.

True, I'll give it a shot after I do a Nandroid and titanum backup, thanks :)

Yabanize: I reflashed back to stock 4.2.2 BMG4 and did OTA from there

I havnt got 4.4 yet, i only just got telecom 4.3 yesterday

Ive rooted my 4.3 telecom without changing knox to 0x1. I wonder If I can do the same with 4.4.2. I was an ADB based root

Interested in a link to the ADB based root?

The one on the thread i posted yesterday:) about rooting without tripping knox

uglyb0b: Keep in mind that once you have flashed a firmware with the knox bootloader there is no going back. If anyone is worried about this, you can always flash a custom 4.4.2 rom that is compatible with the old bootloader and avoid the knox flag entirely.

I have played around with a few and am currently using wanamlite (very close to stock). Everything is working perfectly. There are some rom/kernel combinations that break sound and wifi on the old bootloader, but this has been fixed with a kernel (by jeboo I think) and this fix has been implemented in most custom kernels now.

Good point. So Wanamlite is basically stock touchwiz 4.4.2, but with Odin removed and a few tweaks? Can I go straight there from 4.2.2? Are there any downsides, risks, etc?

Is it easily rooted, or is root built in?

I notice on the download page it calls the modem and bootloader "optional" - why is it in quotes? Is it really optional?

Yes the bootloader is optional (ie you can still use the old bootloader), you just need to make sure you're using the correct modems. The rom is pre-rooted, just flash it in a custom recovery after flashing the modems with odin.

Awesome, thanks, I may do it tonight. Knowing whether to use the new bootloader would be good, I have no idea, and which modem to use. There are links on the page to a bootloader and modem, but I wonder if I need telecom specific ones?

If you're using the old bootloader the latest LTE modem you can use is XXUBMH1. When I was using Omega, I flashed this modem package before the rom. It has the GSM modem XXUEMJ5 and LTE modem XXUBMH1 in one package.

So if you're on the old bootloader, the process would be to flash the GSM and LTE modem in the first link, then flash the MK9 modem, then install wanamlite. I'm just recalling this from memory but I'm 99% sure this is the correct process.

Also, sometimes flashing the modem will not "stick", so follow the instructions listed at the top of the page on the second link -

If anyone else is having issues with the baseband not changing, do this.

Use Odin v3.04

Untick Autoreboot

Flash modem

Reboot once again into Download Mode using (Vol Down plus Home button combi)

Flash Modem once more

Once done,unplug then reboot device manually.

If this doesn't work, try repeating the flash process again while rebooting manually and with auto-reboot option turned off.

Thanks UB. So would I be ok downloading everything from the 2.6 download page including modem and bootloader, flashing the lot (I figure just Odin on the PC and find some instructions somewhere)? Or should I stick with the old bootloader than the modem you linked to?

Why do you flash the bootloader and modem first? Are there full instructions anywhere that go through this step by step? Are modems country specific?

I may try just flashing the ROM and seeing if it mostly works, then doing the bootloader and modem later if I need to. Custom ROMs can be a bit cryptic for most people.

It's up to you. The reason I went through the hassle of flashing specific modems is because I want to keep the old (non-knox) bootloader. That's the whole reason I went to wanamlite (very close to stock and compatible with old bootloader). If you are going to flash the new bootloader, you might as well just go with a stock rom - it doesn't make much difference.

If you're going to a custom rom to avoid knox I would strongly recommend using the old bootloader with wanamlite and the modems I linked to. The modems are country specific, but they are also bootloader and firmware specific. I use the setup I listed previously because it's necessary for compatibility with the old bootloader.

Ah ok, cool. I don't want the Knox bootloader, so I'll stick with current and upgrade the modem after doing the ROM.

So the XXUEMK9 modem is specific to Telecom NZ? The major hit I get googling that is instruction on how to update the S4 to Android 4.3.

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure out what exactly I'm doing and why so I don't brick my phone. There's no official source of good info, it's all random websites, posts by people you don't know on various forums like XDA.

You would flash the modem before the rom. As far as I know you don't need to go to 4.3 in between, just as long as you do a full wipe before flashing the rom.

Not sure what country that modem is associated with, but there should be no issues with it on Telecom. The only thing you'd really need to do for use on Telecom is just turn off fast dormancy in the service menu (assuming it is enabled by default).

Edit - XXUEMK9 is from 4.3 firmware but is compatible with 4.4.2. You just can't use the 4.4.2 modems with the old bootloader.

timmmay: Ok, so I flash GSM modem XXUEMK9 then LTE modem XXUBMH1. Then run Titanium backup, install TWRP, run Nandroid, do a full wipe, then flash the ROM using Odin 3.09. Sound right?

Not quite, flash the GSM and LTE modem (both are in the same package) in the first link I posted (in the phone section in Odin), reboot and check that the modem has changed, then flash the MK9 modem (and reboot, check that it's changed). You may need to follow the guide at the top of the modem page on xda if the flashing doesn't "stick".

This is to ensure you have the correct LTE modem. I'm not sure how important the MK9 gsm modem is, but I am running it on mine and I recall having to flash it before wanamlite (can't remember why).

Once you have the correct modems, do all your backups etc full wipe and then install the rom from recovery (not Odin). The latest wanamlite appears to require twrp recovery rather than cwm or philz. I used philz, however I'm still on wanamlite 2.3 so I haven't tried any of the later ones yet. You could try with philz, then if you have any issues use twrp instead.